A Delhi court on Saturday issued fresh bailable warrants against YouTuber and social media influencer Dhruv Rathee in an eight-year-old criminal defamation case after noting that the earlier warrants were issued at a wrong address in Austria instead of his Gurugram residence.
During the proceedings, the complainant’s counsel informed the court that Rathee had already left India and was residing overseas. The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on November 23.
What is the case?
The court had initially issued notices as far back as July 23, 2019, but the proceedings remained pending amid difficulties in ensuring his appearance. At the previous hearing on October 12, the court had issued fresh summons after an urgent application by Sanskrityayan seeking expedited proceedings. The counsel provided a Sector 56 address in Haryana’s Gurugram, where Rathee was believed to be staying, and sought steps to ensure service of the summons.
In the video, Rathee had alleged that members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) IT Cell had attempted to bribe Sanskrityayan to defame him. Sanskrityayan subsequently approached the court, claiming that the allegations were false, malicious and deliberately intended to damage his reputation. Sanskrityayan had initiated defamation proceedings against both Rathee and Kejriwal. The case has witnessed repeated attempts to serve summons on Rathee, who has largely been residing overseas. The complainant’s counsel, advocate Samaksh Sharma, had informed the court that Rathee, who ordinarily resides in Germany, was then in India to attend a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest.
Kejriwal subsequently admitted before the court that sharing the video was a mistake, leading to separate proceedings against him. However, the original complaint against Rathee, as the creator and publisher of the video, continued before the Saket court.
